ArmyUpdate

The Honorable Michael McCaul represents the tenth district in Texas and serves as the Chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security. Congressman McCaul shares his thoughts on the deep connections between energy and security in a freewheeling and engaging conversation with T. Boone Pickens.

Middle East oil funds terrorism. It’s that simple.
No one denies that ISIS, Al Qaeda, Al-Shabaab, and other terrorist organizations sell oil, steal oil, and get paid off in petrodollars. The only question is how many millions they take in each month.

Today’s War on Terrorism is a much different battle.
Terrorist organizations such as ISIS produce TV shows. They use social media to lure recruits. They’ve even hacked into the Pentagon. This requires time, training, and a lot of money. Want to guess where they get it?

America’s dependence on OPEC oil is part of the problem.
The CIA has long known that OPEC producers buy off terrorists by funneling money to terrorist organizations. Think about that the next time you fill up your tank.

Americans can’t change the Middle East.
U.S. troops spent a decade fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq. What did we get? Thousands of lives lost and trillions of dollars added to the national debt. And they’re still fighting each other just as they were before we arrived.

But we can change ourselves.
Over the last decade, we’ve cut our dependency on Middle East oil in half. Let’s end this dangerous addiction by converting the remaining 50 percent to American fuels such as domestic natural gas.

OPEC won’t let the price of oil stay low for long.
Saudi Arabia is playing hardball with the rest of OPEC for the first time in decades. But that won’t last. Low prices hurt the Saudis as well – and they know it. When the Saudis think it’s time, prices will climb.

Want to contain rogue players like Russia, Iran, and Venezuela? Cheap oil is the best way.
Notice how quiet things are in Eastern Europe? That’s because Vladimir Putin depends on oil and gas for most of Russia’s export income. With the price of oil halved and the ruble in the tank, Russia is causing less trouble than it did last year.

America’s oil and gas industry is as creative as Silicon Valley.
Ten years ago, we thought the U.S. was running out of natural gas. Now, thanks to revolutionary innovation in energy development, America is the world’s leading energy producer. Maybe it’s time to give the oil and gas industry an ‘attaboy’.

If you want to do big things, growing up in Oklahoma is a good place to start.
I grew up in Holdenville, Oklahoma. It turns out Jim Woolsey is a Tulsa native. Must be something that makes Okies want to take on the world.

Download this and other podcasts from the T. Boone Pickens Channel on AudioBoom or iTunes.